


A Special Occasion

by sallyamongpoison



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Samson decides to do something sweet for once, first real date, fluff for the sake of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-18
Updated: 2016-05-18
Packaged: 2018-06-09 03:48:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6888679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sallyamongpoison/pseuds/sallyamongpoison
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Samson asks Cullen to go out on a -real- date for the first time in over a year.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Special Occasion

_[Text: Cullen (4:39PM)]: busy?_

_[Text: Samson (4:43PM)]: Not really.  Why?_

_[Text: Cullen (4:47PM)]: Get dressed. We’re going out._

_[Text: Samson (4:55PM)]: Are we? Where to?_

_[Text: Cullen (5:05PM)]: No questions. Just get ready._

When Samson showed up he wasn’t dressed in his usual ratty jeans and a t-shirt. He looked…nice. Well, nic _er_ : jeans with no holes, a leather jacket on over what looked to be a shirt with no band logo from fifteen years ago, hair washed and brushed. Cullen was surprised. Samson was usually a no effort kind of guy, a ‘take me or leave me’ type, so it was a bit odd to know that he had actually _tried_. It made Cullen, who stood there in a pair of his favorite chinos that were worn at the knee and a tshirt, feel actually a little under-dressed. He had combed his curls back, like he typically did when he knew they were going out in public, but that was about it.

“Shit,” he commented as he opened the door, and Samson just grinned, “you clean up nice.”

One of Samson’s thin hands gestured to his own clothes, and then he winked at Cullen, “Yeah, well. I can put on _some_ airs when I want to.”

“And you want to because…” Cullen began, but Samson waved him off.

That was all Cullen got, too, until they were walking down the sidewalk and a cool hand slipped into his. That was…that was a surprise. They weren’t affectionate where people could see, didn’t really do much more than maybe stand a little closer than two friends might have. Then again, they didn’t exactly have a label either. Neither Cullen nor Samson had the constitution for that kind of talk. They didn’t like it, and were more or less okay to just be what they were from day to day. Sometimes they were more, sometimes they were less. Today must have been a ‘more’ day, since Samson never took his hand like that.

Cullen liked it. He felt a thrill inside his chest, something he hadn’t expected, and squeezed that hand in his own which earned him a squeeze in response. It was sweet. Samson was rarely sweet. It was nice. It was _new_. It was…actually, the more Cullen thought about it, the more he started to wonder and worry.

What if Samson was dying or something?

He cast a glance to his left, amber eyes cutting to the side to watch the other man’s face. Samson seemed alright. He was animated and actually smiling a little, and Cullen had to wonder what this was all about. After a few times of doing that, the trying to figure it out by sight, Samson caught him. Dark eyes met amber and Samson winked once before he squeezed Cullen’s hand again.

“Sam, what’s-”

“Nope.”

“ _Raleigh_ ,” Cullen intoned with a look, “come on.”

“Don’t _Raleigh_ me. You have to fucking wait,” Samson told him, like it was the easiest thing in the world, “isn’t patience a virtue or something?”

“Not with you.”

So they walked. They walked, Samson smirked, and Cullen was equal parts thrilled and worried. He didn’t want to work himself into a fit, considering Samson didn’t seem worried at all, but it was hard not to. The being dressed up? The hand holding? The grinning? That wasn’t like Samson at all. Not…not out in public like this anyway.

They stopped walking just outside one of the parks that was between their flats. Sometimes they went there, ran together, but today it seemed like there was some sort of…festival on. Nothing huge, but people milled around carrying blankets and baskets and Maker only knew what else. Cullen cocked an eyebrow as Samson led him in, and as they made their way through the crowd and across the grass Cullen saw it in the dying afternoon light:

A big screen. Speakers. One of those pop up drive-in movie type things. He’d heard about them, thought about going when it was something he wanted to see, but he’d never mentioned it to Samson. This…this was so unlike anything they normally did. This was…this was…

A real date.

Maker help him, but Cullen had kind of given up on that. He and Samson went out, got food or coffee, but they didn’t _date_. Once upon a time Samson had scoffed at the idea of it, too. He’d clapped a hand on Cullen’s shoulder and said ‘that kind of shit’ was for special occasions and thus far nothing had really been special enough to warrant it. A year and a half, and they’d just been going like they’d been going. That had suited Cullen, had suited Samson, but now they were there and doing something he’d kind of always wanted to do. But they had nowhere to sit. No blanket, no food, no…

And then there was a blanket. A blanket and a basket and a blanket Cullen recognized from Samson’s flat that they’d curled up under on his couch. He’d planned this, really _planned_ it, and Cullen was a bit wide-eyed and slack-jawed for it.  One hand gestured to the blankets, then moved back to point at Samson. He didn’t even need to ask the question. Samson just shrugged, grinned again, and pulled Cullen down to sit.

He pulled a beer from a cooler, opened it, and handed it off to Cullen, “Horror night,” he commented as they got comfortable, “bit more fun than marathoning it on the couch.”

Cullen was still in a bit of shock, but accepted the beer and settled in beside him, “You…actually wanted to do this?” he asked.

“Nope,” Samson answered, but grinned and turned to look at Cullen again, “I mean, not off the top of my head. But you did, so we’re here.”

“Maker, did you go to the doctor or something?” Cullen asked, “what did he say? Is it…is it bad?”

“I’m not dying, Rutherford,” he laughed, “can’t I do something nice?”

“Not like this,” Cullen pointed out, “you never do anything like this.”

Samson sighed, shook his head, and took a pull from the beer he had in his hand. “You know, I was going to wait until all this got started,” he began, “when the killer was right outside the door or whatever. When things were tense…”

One of Cullen’s eyebrows rose and he just blinked as he waited for Samson to go on. It seemed he was content to let the tension build, though, and they just watched each other for a long moment before Samson started laughing and put the beer down so he could lean over and capture Cullen’s lips in a kiss. He tasted like that beer and maybe mint from gum or something, and so like Samson that cullen relaxed a little into it and reached out the hand not holding his beer to tangle in that brown hair that hung to Samson’s shoulder.

“Move in with me,” Samson breathed once their lips parted to breathe, “I want you to move in with me.”

Cullen’s eyes widened for that. _A special occasion_. This was a special occasion. This was a special occasion where Samson wanted to ask him something serious. It was maybe the first real question he’d ever really asked him. They weren’t even…they were still just…

“Does that mean-”

“Yes,” Samson interrupted, “be my knight in shining armor or whatever the fuck it is. Just you. No one else.” He was quiet for a beat. He watched Cullen’s face, and for a moment Cullen didn’t know what to say. Or how to respond. “Rutherf- _Cullen_ , will you?” he asked more gently, warmly, and lifted a hand to cup Cullen’s scruffy cheek, “move in with me and make this, like…official?”

Now it was Cullen’s turn to dial up that tension. He kept his face neutral and just studied Samson’s face that went through more than a few expressions: concern, maybe a bit of fear, then playful annoyance as he realized exactly what Cullen’s game was. He rolled his eyes and leaned in to kiss Cullen again, which suited Cullen to the ground. It was warm and slow, and when he pulled away Cullen’s eyes were half lidded and he could just _feel_ it.

“I’d like that,” Cullen answered finally, “to…make this official. And to move in with you.”

**Author's Note:**

> come find me on tumblr! @sallyamongpoison


End file.
